The reputation of the Internet as a source of relevant and accurate information is being called into question. The impending ‘Net2’ version of the web will give everyone a voice, making more sites open source or ‘Wiki’ based and allowing anyone with something to say the opportunity to write articles, content and copy on any subject.

While freedom of expression is a great thing, the Wiki controversy has drawn attention to the knotty problem of content accuracy on the web. A new trend in article writing for the web is emerging where some sites pay (albeit next to nothing) for content written ‘by the people, for the people’. While in principle this is a good thing, in reality the whole ‘non-expert publishing’ debate means that much of the content is written purely for money by people who have very little understanding of the subject matter or the interests of the reading audience. There’s often a problem with the grammatical accuracy of these articles too.

You get what you pay for

But you get what you pay for. Claiming the moral high ground and saying that this poor quality content is acceptable because it is ‘user generated’ and therefore conforms to Net2 principles doesn’t make it a good thing. Okay isn’t good enough.

Think of any other profession and the idea that ‘okay is good enough’ would be anathema. Would you trust your life in the hands of a surgeon who admitted he was "just okay" at doing operations? Of course you wouldn’t. You’d want the very best and, if necessary, you would pay that bit extra to be sure that your tonsillectomy didn’t turn into a ‘code blue’ emergency.

So would you, as a business owner, be prepared to accept web content or SEO copywriting that was ‘just okay’? Would you be prepared to associate your brand and your reputation with average copy that is merely a rehash of information that’s been copied and pasted (and slightly rewritten to avoid copyright issues) from an open source site? Or would you prefer to pay that little bit extra and have a professional, experienced UK copywriter generate fresh, original copy and unique content?

A place for everything…

User generated content has its place on the web. It’s always fun and interesting to go to open access sites and pick up little snippets of information about a subject. But for branding and serious business content, snippets and ‘just okay copy’ are no match for engaging, interesting and relevant copy that shows you and your business in the best possible light.

Truly unique content is special, no matter who produces it. The difference comes when that content has a specific purpose – namely selling your brand. Then merely ‘just okay’ is not good enough. Premium web content has to not only engage and interest your human visitors but it has to have an end purpose too. It has to sell. Whether that’s your product, your expertise or your brand every word has to work, and work hard. If you’re lucky enough to employ the services of a top quality UK copywriter, that content is worthy of purchase and should be paid for on the merit of its value. Its value isn’t just in the time and effort that has gone into creating it, but also in what value it adds to your brand.

So is ‘just okay’ good enough? The answer is no. Not for quality web content. Quality web content has to be exactly what it says it is – quality. Fresh, original, unique and structured in such a way that it brings added value to your brand. Now that’s the kind of content worth paying for.